How does it feel to get cut by a sword or getting shoot?

[Jang]

So I am an ST (or DM/GM if you prefer) and I've mostly been making empowering stories in the past.Very akin to how video games normally work. However, I have come up with a story idea that would put my player(s) in the other end of the power spectrum, and to reflect this I would like to make combat more gritty (though I loathe to use that word due to some conotations I have to it).

In the past getting hit has worked a lot like video games as well. You get hit, but mostly you don't actually get hit. You lose some health points, you get some wound penalties, but in terms of story You don't actually "get hit" as such. Apart from Health points decrease your wound might as well not have been there. So I decide I would like to make combat more visceral, to encourage other options than fighting and to hammer home that the players are not as powerful as they usually are.

Here comes my problem: How the hell does it feel like to get cut by a sword? Or Shoot for that matter?
Being a first class coward and whimp I've barely been in a fight my entire life, so I can barely accurately describe what a decent fist to the chest or face feels like.

Making matters worse, I don't really know how to investigate this (okay I do! But I really don't want to resort to experiments on this particular matter). So here is sort of a desperate effort to find out:

How does it feel to be on the losing end of a fight? Does anyone here know what getting cut by a sword or knife feel like or getting shot? (and if you could be a bit more vivid than "pain" then that would be greatly appreciated!)

 

[Kekkles]

Get cut by a knife is really strange, it feels almost like nothing for a second until the pain sears through the wound. I've been attacked by a guy with a knife and I found it most... displeasing. The blade felt like it just cut through every bit of flesh like butter which then lead to the inevitable bleeding. I've never seen so much blood before.

I've also volunteered to be shot whilst wearing a bulletproof jacket to see exactly how it feels. That is like a whole house of force coming straight into such a much point, let alone what a real bullet could do.

I've never lost a fight because I've only ever been in one but the guy I decked said later that he thought his eye had exploded from the punch. A white light replacing his vision until concussion set in. I also remember my knuckles had hurt afterwards so that's some damage even that could be rendered as useful. I could easily say that if it was your first fight then your hand wouldn't be used to hitting bone hard.

Those are my detailed stories if you'd like to understand a little more about what things really do.

 

[DefunctTheory]

I used to be in the Army. Somehow, I managed to never get stabbed myself, and being shot as well. However, I know quite a few people who were not as lucky. Here's a run down.

Being shot - Unlike the movies, most modern ammunition puts you down. And by down, I mean DOWN. It hurts like your dieing and instantly renders you half useless (Depending on where and what shot you).

One round to armor breaks your ribs and renders you mostly immobile (Beyond hobbling). A shot to the limb makes it useless. Unarmored torso shots will most likely put you into shock, or at the very least render you mostly useless. Plus side - Adrenaline lets you keep doing simple things.

Stabbed is pretty much the same thing, only to a lesser degree (Unless they really get you good).

As for losing... in real fights, you don't really get to feel anything. Most of the time, by the time your losing (And you know it), your dead (Or already beaten).

Honestly, RPing/gaming based on real life suck. Your battles will last about 3 minutes (In game), and anyone hit by anything will be done for the rest of the game.

 

[Rawne1980]

Hurts like fuck.

I have been stabbed, blown up and shot (not literally blown up, I was in a transport truck that was bombed) and none of them are pleasant.

As for losing a fight. I've had my share of beatings and i've given out more than my share.

It hurts.

Not for long though.

As for what does it feel like. It's a hard thing to describe. I had a knife stuck in my thigh. At first it felt like someone was pinching the skin with a metal claw (like a nipping feeling but a lot worse) then I got pins and needles and then it went numb. Hurt like a ***** a bit later though, shock and adrenaline are wonderful things for masking pain, they don't last though.

I got shot in the lower part of my back grazing my spine (which is now riddled with metal bloody pins) and i'll be honest, I didn't feel it at first. I felt what can only be described as a thud, like someone punching you and then it burned like hell, then it hurt like I was dying, I mean it really hurts. Then I passed out. Woke up in a field hospital on morphine yay. It just felt like a really, really bad ache after that. Still aches to this day, especially my spine.

Fighting wise i've done since I was able to walk. I've lived in some rough as shit towns and was a kid during the 80's when the recession was on so every bugger was poor and wanting to get their hands on a bit of extra cash for food. We had to fight no 2 ways about it. My brother kind of taught me to fight until I took up Jeet Kune Do and Kickboxing at 7 and 9 respectively.

The worst pain from fighting i've felt to this day was the first time I had my nose broke. Both eyes swollen I could barely see, breathing through my nose hurt, my eyes were watering. It was tender as hell and my sister kept poking it and asking if it hurt.

 

[Kud]

I have only been knifed, and all I can say is "Ouch". Try to avoid getting stabbed. Pro tip.

 

[Blue Hero]

When I was younger, I decided to cut myself some ham from a ham roll. Got a knife, got the ham, decided to be a ninja samurai badass cool guy. Did some shitty little hand movements with the knife, between my legs, over the head, forward and backward. Accidentally stabbed myself in the leg. Not a shallow stab either. Didn't feel anything at all. No pain. Decided to just put a band-aid on it and ate my ham.

Few minutes later, my leg felt like it was on fire.

 

[kingcom]

So I am an ST (or DM/GM if you prefer) and I've mostly been making empowering stories in the past.Very akin to how video games normally work. However, I have come up with a story idea that would put my player(s) in the other end of the power spectrum, and to reflect this I would like to make combat more gritty (though I loathe to use that word due to some conotations I have to it).

In the past getting hit has worked a lot like video games as well. You get hit, but mostly you don't actually get hit. You lose some health points, you get some wound penalties, but in terms of story You don't actually "get hit" as such. Apart from Health points decrease your wound might as well not have been there. So I decide I would like to make combat more visceral, to encourage other options than fighting and to hammer home that the players are not as powerful as they usually are.

Here comes my problem: How the hell does it feel like to get cut by a sword? Or Shoot for that matter?
Being a first class coward and whimp I've barely been in a fight my entire life, so I can barely accurately describe what a decent fist to the chest or face feels like.

Making matters worse, I don't really know how to investigate this (okay I do! But I really don't want to resort to experiments on this particular matter). So here is sort of a desperate effort to find out:

How does it feel to be on the losing end of a fight? Does anyone here know what getting cut by a sword or knife feel like or getting shot? (and if you could be a bit more vivid than "pain" then that would be greatly appreciated!)

ST, does that mean your running WoD? I would recommend getting a look at the Critical damage table for Dark Heresy. Thats what happens when you get shot. Your bones break, your blood spills, your organs splatter and all your mind can do is watch the pulverized mess that your body has become.

Heres the link: http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Dark_Heresy

Serious injuries are dependent on if your body goes into shock or not, if you do, you barely feel a thing. If you dont it feels like you've stuck your hand on the stove but instead of being external its your insides that feel like a furnace, every pulse of your heart (if you were hit in the right spot) is a spur of pain. Kind of like heartburn but on an infinitely high scale.

 

[Francis Nguyen]

I've been sliced with an ultra sharp folded katana before. Not fun. It cuts flesh like butter. It was so quick, there is this pulling feeling in the flesh and then the pain comes in a wave and bleeds heavily.

 

[Blue Hero]

I've been sliced with an ultra sharp folded katana before. Not fun. It cuts flesh like butter. It was so quick, there is this pulling feeling in the flesh and then the pain comes in a wave and bleeds heavily.

You're lucky to be alive, bro. A katana is folded over 10,000,000 times because the metal is so pure. They can cut through a tank with ease.

 

[MejaisSoulstealer]

I got cut by a sword once as well. I was trying to clean it because I like my swords shiny, and accidentally cut myself. I agree with Francis Nguyen's comment. Cuts flesh like butter. Just a small cut, from my thumb to my pinkie and I had to go to the hospital for stitches because the bleeding wouldn't stop. Thing is, the sword was so sharp I didn't even realize I had been cut until I saw the blood.

 

[OldRat]

Haven't been cut by a sword, not severely anyway, but I have been cut by an axe, a saw, a power saw and knives. And angry animals.

Basically, cutting wounds hurt a lot. It's impossible to really describe pain to someone who hasn't experienced it, but when you're cut severely, you will feel it. There's a few seconds of a possible "grace period of shorts", but after that the whole things sets in. It's as if your brain is trying deny that much hurt, and then just shrugging and giving up. If it makes any sense, a cutting injury actually FEELS sharp. It won't just hurt when you're cut, and it won't go away soon. See, the problem is, you now have to separated pieces of flesh, all pain and screaming nerves, moving against each other, stinging and screaming and hurting.
It all depends on the individual's pain treshold, but a serious injury won't just hurt where you're hurt. The pain radiates up and down, numbing but not in any way lessening the pain itself.

In a fight, it might not even hurt the worst then and there, but after the adrenaline has died down. There's always something of a rush when getting hit bad, and then you actually have to pull your broken pieces up and move. I hate that part, it'd be so much better to stay in a little ball of pain.

Nerve injuries tend to be the worst. There's always nerve injury to some degree, but getting hit in a good cluster is horrible. I've seen good nerve damage to an inconsequential-seeming part of the body, like the base of the thumb (that's me and my sick rat panicking and worrying at my hand), actually pretty much literally take large, grown men off their feet.

Now, these are really bad descriptions, and I'm sorry. It's just very hard to describe the full extent of a pain to someone who's never actually felt something similar.
But in other advise, what system are you using? I've used plenty with my group, and I'm known for not sugar-coating anything in combat. I might know what you need if I get the system.

 

[Dyp100]

I've been sliced with an ultra sharp folded katana before. Not fun. It cuts flesh like butter. It was so quick, there is this pulling feeling in the flesh and then the pain comes in a wave and bleeds heavily.

You're lucky to be alive, bro. A katana is folded over 10,000,000 times because the metal is so pure. They can cut through a tank with ease.

I love you, man.

"Sadly", I've never been shot or stabbed, so can't help you there. Only cut my thumb with a knife before. That was weird...Cos it feels like a little breeze, didn't even notice it, then I looked down at my shirt, drops of blood then it started to feel like someone was pinching the inside of my thumb. (I think that's how it went down, anyway.)

But if you want combat stuff, it'd agree with the guy who says Dark Heresy.

 

[SoulSalmon]

Cuts are interesting, you tend to not even NOTICE the bad ones until you see them, yet if you get a tiny cut it will STING FOREVER.

Theres a good explanation though, something about the difference between your nerves being damaged (light cut) and severed (serious cut).

Never been shot though, I'd like it to stay that way xD

Edit: by DM I can assume DnD or something that works similarly?
It wouldn't be too hard to incorporate some of this into a battle, something as simple as a player having a close call (barely not getting hit) yet having it come back a little later in the form of a small cut on the finger that gets noticed and causes a slight damage penalty for a short while...

I dunno, just random advice xD. Never hurts to give random advice

 

[Jang]

ST, does that mean your running WoD? I would recommend getting a look at the Critical damage table for Dark Heresy. Thats what happens when you get shot. Your bones break, your blood spills, your organs splatter and all your mind can do is watch the pulverized mess that your body has become.

Heres the link: http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Dark_Heresy

Serious injuries are dependent on if your body goes into shock or not, if you do, you barely feel a thing. If you dont it feels like you've stuck your hand on the stove but instead of being external its your insides that feel like a furnace, every pulse of your heart (if you were hit in the right spot) is a spur of pain. Kind of like heartburn but on an infinitely high scale.

Actually, I am running an Exalted game so still White Wolf but far from WoD But thanks for the description and thanks for the charts. I am sure they'll be worth plenty of inspiration once I finally get my ass in gear and read through them properly =)

 

[Jang]

[snip]

Now, these are really bad descriptions, and I'm sorry. It's just very hard to describe the full extent of a pain to someone who's never actually felt something similar.
But in other advise, what system are you using? I've used plenty with my group, and I'm known for not sugar-coating anything in combat. I might know what you need if I get the system.

You're description are actually very helpful, so no need to apologize The system I am using is Exalted by White Wolf, so perhaps a bit obscure (at least the game is around my part of the world), but if you have stuff for that then that would be great!

 

[Jang]

Wauw! This really got more replies than I anticipated. Guess people get shoot and cut more than I thought they did. I sorta feel a bit more like a whimp just reading through these, though by no means regretting my choice of being a coward.
Thanks for all the replies, and for trying to describe something which is clearly hard to relate to if one hasn't gone trough it. I've really gotten a lot of stuff I can use for my games here! =)

(People just joining the thread now, please don't let this post stop you from sharing about this! I like to be quite extensive in my research, so please share about your battle scars. This post is just me saying thanks for the help so far )

 

[Shock and Awe]

From what I've heard getting shot is like getting punched by a heavy weight boxer, stabbed, and burned all at once. Never been stabbed or shot, but if been sliced pretty good by knives a few times. It takes a second and then you realized "Oh shit I just got cut" and then the pain starts. I heard getting shot is kind of like that as well. I've also never been on the losing end of a fight, the winning end a few times, but I make sure never to get into a fight I can't win.

 

[SckizoBoy]

A katana is folded over 10,000,000 times because the metal is so pure. They can cut through a tank with ease.

... ?! *shrug* The steel in katanas is only folded eight to twelve times (sixteen at most), any more and the steel becomes too homogenous and there is no point crafting a blade from it (i.e. edge is too soft, spine is too brittle).

OT: Both my calves were sheared by... something. I was eleven or twelve at the time on a run and when I got back home, both of my legs were bleeding. Didn't hurt, but once my pulse slowed, they were killing me.

And I was stabbed in the shoulder when I was twenty. Managed to pull the knife out... which in retrospect may not have been the best idea... I passed out shortly afterwards 'cos honest to God, it hurt like fuck, but thank heaven no damage was permanent...

 

[Radeonx]

I was shot in the kneecap with a pistol once.
It hurt REALLY FUCKING BAD.